//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: On Golden Heartstrings // by TwoTone //------------------------------// Yesterday... All my troubles seemed so far away. Now it looks as though they're here to stay. Oh, I believe in yesterday. Lyra had no idea how much time had passed. It all seemed like a dream to her. Her entire world had become a surreal nightmare. She'd fallen into the deepest, darkest pit of despair and had no way out. She groggily opened an eye. She looked up at the ceiling from her bed, taking note of the barely luminescent glow coming from her window. She had affixed a sheet over it to block out the light, but the thin fabric didn't do much to stop the powerful rays of the sun. Her broken lyre lay in pieces on the floor, in the same spot she had been playing it. She levitated a pillow over her face, hoping the darkness would fling her back into the sweet embrace of sleep. At least then she wouldn't have to deal with the reality of her situation. A low grumble from her stomach stopped any hope of her returning to sleep however. With an exasperated sigh, she knocked the pillow from her face and rolled onto her hooves. “Let's see what I got to eat,” she thought aloud to herself. She smirked briefly, as she questioned her own sanity. “Normal ponies don't talk to themselves Lyra,” she began. “But you're not a normal pony, are you? That's why you have no friends!” she chided herself. She took a deep breath. She knew she had friends, but they were all back home. Some of them had even moved away from there just as she had. She just hadn't made any friends in Canterlot. She'd secretly hoped that with a city as big as Canterlot was, she'd be able to find her niche. Lyra found herself sitting on the floor, thinking back to home. She had plenty of friends then. Well, most of her friends were her sister's friends, but since they were so close in age she hadn't really much of choice. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes as she realized just how much she missed home. “If I'd just give up on this stupid dream!” She shouted at her cupboards. Her stomach growled in response. She'd forgotten she was hungry. Sighing for the umpteenth time today, she picked herself up. Suddenly, a knock rang out from the door. Lyra leapt into the air, startled. She took a second to catch her breath, as a second round of knocks came. She made her way over to the door, put on her practiced smile and opened it. A brown Pegasus stood before her, wearing the royal mail's uniform. “Letter for Miss Lyra Heartstrings,” he recited mechanically. “Yep, that's me!” Lyra said warmly. The Pegasus produced the letter from his bag with an incredible amount of dexterity and ease. Gripping it in his mouth, he held it in front Lyra. She took it with her magic, levitating it before her. “Thanks!” she said cheerfully. The pegasus grunted in response and took off. Lyra turned to reenter her apartment, excited about the letter. In truth, she figured it was probably a bill or something, but she couldn't help but hope that it was a letter from home. She flipped the front side of the envelope over to get a look at the the return address. Her heart nearly skipped a beat as she read the sender's name – Golden Harvest – out loud. She took no delay in ripping the envelope open with her magic, throwing the envelope to the floor. She unfolded the letter and began to read it. To the best lyre player ever, Miss Lyra Heartstrings, Hey, what's up? I hope you get time to read this, I imagine you're pretty busy playing in the Canterlot Orchestra by now. Must be pretty cool being a big shot. I bet you're making a lot of bits too! Just remember to never forget us small town ponies, ok? Anyway, as I'm sure you noticed, I'm writing from Ponyville. It's this small village, right next to the Everfree Forest. It's beautiful here, Ly. I got a cheap house with plenty of space for a garden. The pony's here are really friendly too! There's this one mare, Pinkie Pie, she's like the princess of partying! She threw me a welcoming party when I first came into town! Hee hee, sorry, I'm getting kind of carried away. Anyway, I think it would be cool if you could find sometime in your schedule to come down and visit. Like I said, I know you're probably really busy, but it'd be cool to see my PFF, y'know? Write me back as soon as you can, and let me know if you can make it out here! There's a train that runs right through Ponyville from Canterlot. Hope to hear from you soon! PFF Carrot Top Lyra's face was beaming. It was amazing how something as small as a letter could brighten up somepony's day. She immediately grabbed a piece of paper and feather to pen her response. She had barely began to write when she paused to think. She crumpled the piece of paper up and tossed it across the room with her magic. She dashed into her room, grabbing her saddlebags and what little she had in savings. “I think a surprise visit is in order,” Lyra said with an ear splitting grin. Some time away from home with her best friend would do her some good. She threw open her door and stepped out into the sunlight for the first time in years, or so it felt. She triumphantly took a step forward, before a her grin turned sheepish. She levitated the envelope from her floor to her saddlebag, double checking the address. Shut and locked her door, before taking off at a full gallop towards the train station, only stopping once to buy a particularly tasty looking apple to eat. {||||} Lyra could honestly swear that she had never seen a line so long in her life. The line for the ticket booth seemed to stretch on for nearly an entire block. She shifted on her hooves uncomfortably, as she tried to find ways to alleviate the boredom. She'd been standing around for at least half an hour already, and the line had barely moved more than a few ponies. She nervously reassured herself that there was no way this many ponies were going to Ponyville, and there would still be tickets available when she got up to the booth. After another hour, Lyra found herself only 3 or 4 ponies away from the booth. “Two first-class tickets to Ponyville,” a white upperclass earth stallion said to the ticket master. Lyra's ears perked up at this. The ticket master slid the tickets through the window to the stallion and his companion, an egg-white mare dressed in fancy pearls. “Dear, my hooves are utterly exhausted from this senseless loitering,” She whined. “Yes my love, but if we were to miss the summer sun celebration in Ponyville, what would all of our friends think?” he responded. Lyra's eyes widened. How could I have forgotten about the summer sun celebration?! She nervously shuffled her legs back and forth as she waited her turn to get to the booth. The summer sun celebration was a pretty big deal in Equestria. She's been to one when she was a little filly and her family had gone on a vacation to Canterlot. It was just her luck that in the year that she had lived their that they would hold the celebration somewhere else. It struck her as a little odd to hold the celebration in a place as small as Ponyville. The ponies in front of her had all purchased tickets to Ponyville as well. She breathed a huge sigh of relief as she made her way up to the booth. If they'd sold out of tickets, they would've hung up a sign or said something. “Hello ma'am,” Lyra put on her trademark smile, “May I get one ticket to Ponyville please?” The older mare looked down at Lyra through her glasses. “That'll be 20 bits,” she said sternly. Lyra's face fell. “B-But, the board says 5 bits for a ticket to Ponyville,” Lyra said meekly, pointing a hoof at the board. “Yes missy. For coach class. All we have left are first-class tickets.” Lyra was stunned. She looked into her saddlebag, counting how much she had. 23 bits. She could have stretched that to live on for a week or two. 3 bits would barely get a her by for a day, much less if anything should happen. No, I've come too far to back out now! Plus, riding first-class will probably be awesome! She levitated the fare onto the counter. The mare slid her ticket through the booth. “Thank you. Have a nice trip,” The mare said less than enthusiastically. Lyra smiled and nodded to the mare, turning towards the platform. “Ponyville... here I come,” She said to herself.